Empire Island, Exile the First

Chapter 28

Uruk'Zu came at me with a jarring gait, as if he was just testing out his new human body. And I supposed he was. Until then he'd hidden so deeply inside Mike that I wasn't even sure if Mike had known he was there.

This was my only advantage, because other than that, I had no idea what kind of magic I was dealing with here. It was more than the bile yellow tendrils of the lower demons, it was thicker, darker, and smelled more potent. I felt it radiating off of him like heat from a fire and it left me breathless.

"You don't belong here," I said as I backed up and around the circle of girls who remained in place. "You need to fuck off right back to where you came from."

I had this crazy notion that maybe if I kept him distracted, I could figure him out and find a way to destroy him. It helped that not only was it a demon — the demon — it made it easier that he wore the body of a man who had done me harm. As much as I loathed being the one to cause injury or even death (see my unresolved issues with burning Mara to a crisp), this one would feel good.

If I could pull it off.

"I belong wherever there is chaos, little one," he chuckled and his voice rumbled out of him like distant thunder on a Sulphur scented breeze. He had undertones of rotten flesh and decay in there, too. What a guy.

"There's no room for chaos on Empire," I replied, moving to the other side, keeping him watching me as I edged back and forth at a snail's pace. I hoped maybe it was hypnotic, like how once I'd read people manage to capture runaway horses. Calm the beast, sooth them, and then strike.

"You invited chaos when you left, failed guardian," he chuckled, taking another step forward. Mike's face rippled and stretched as it adjusted to the demon beneath.

"I might have left, but there were those here who protected it," I retorted. His accusation stung, I won't lie. "My sister and aunts were here to take up my duties."

"Your sister invited us in, dear one," he said, throwing his head back and roaring with laughter. My face burned with anger and humiliation. Anger at Phoenix for inviting the cult to the island, if that's what happened. And humiliation because he was right. I had dropped the ball and left Empire wide open. I was a failure at so many things, but the worst was failing Empire and the node of magic that had been in place, guarded by my family for centuries.

"You lie," I snapped, drawing glyphs with my fingers as I moved and talked. "You lie because you have nothing else. You are a false power without anything to show for the eons you've been around. Nobody cares about you except this raggedy group of patchouli stinking new age losers, and actually, that's really fucking sad."

"You have no idea, do you?" he asked, tilting his head. His grin stretched wide, exposing double rows of jagged teeth. His black, oily tongue darted in and out of his mouth like a snake, and he paused to taste the air. "You're trying your magic, but it won't work. You will be mine."

"I'll never work for you!" I exclaimed, taking a step to the side. "I'd rather die!"

"Not work," he said, and all at once Mike's body leaped forward, landing just a couple feet in front of me. "Own. I will own you."

Uruk'Zu's eyes blazed with greedy desire and I shuddered at the thought of his slick tongue anywhere near my body.

"That's definitely not fucking happening," I yelled, stomping my foot and bracing myself as I threw my first ball of magic at him. It hit him right in the center of Mike's chest, forcing the air out of his lungs with a loud oof sound.

Before he had a chance to regain his footing and react, I had another glyph drawn and threw it at him with more force this time. Mike's body jerked upright and back, curving over like a strung bow with his chest pressed to the sky. He struggled against my power crackling across his flesh, but nothing helped and he emitted a low moaning sound making the hair on my arms stand on end.